The safe haven
by Wittyheroine
Summary: Takes place after this years season finale. Rory runs away from her grandparents house and runs into a face from the past. Trory.
1. That dejavu feeling

**Title: The safe haven **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. **

**Summary: Takes place after this years season finale. Rory runs away from her grandparents house and runs into a face from the past. Trory. **

Chapter One 

That Dejavu feeling 

Rory Gilmore bit down on her lip, and looked around. She was in a place unfamiliar. It was Beaufort, a small town near the ocean, so small it wasn't even on the map. Located in North Carolina, Rory had come there to get away. At first, living with her grandparents had seemed like a good idea. She would go there for a while, cool off, find some direction, a purpose. But the life wasn't for her. It was too demanding, too stressfull. 

So she had run. She had run far, much like her Mother had, and stopped at the first place her gut told her to. Beaufort, for whatever the reason, was that place. 

Rory hadn't told anyone but Logan where she was. She'd broken up with him, too. When she'd explained her reasoning, he'd understood. There'd been no big fights, no I'm sorrys, just a short, bittersweet goodbye, one last 'I love you' and then she was off. 

Now, after a few weeks straight of driving, Rory had stopped here, in this town. It was hotter then sin out and there were rocks covered in moss, people out fishing day in and day out, and the area was surrounded by dogwoods and azelas. 

As she stepped out of her car, Rory noted how different it was then Stars Hollow, and yet she still managed to find similarities between her town and this one. People who were most likely locals stared and whispered as she walked down the street. 

She knew that within ten minutes, her arrival would be all over the entire place. Not listening intently, she managed to catch whispers of "tourist". Rory smiled and shook her head. Somehow, she didn't think that she was going to be a tourist here. Instinct told her she'd be there for a long time. 

Deciding that she needed food, Rory looked around for the closest place to eat. Upon spotting a small diner, she walked in, heard the tinkling of the bell, was reminded vaguely of Luke's for a second and then pushed that thought a way. 

She caught a wiff of something good and smiled. The one thought that came to mind was that she hoped they had coffee. Rory noted the name of the place, Mary's Diner. Dejavu hit her, and she remembered a long ago tucked away memory. 

_It was her first day at Chilton and she had been having a horrible time. She'd broken someones project, one of the girls already hated her, and the teachers seemed hell bent on making her work more then she ever had in her entire life. _

_Now, to add to the preasure of being the new girl, she now had to study for a test and ask one of her peers for notes. That was going to be such an easy task because she was becoming so popular; NOT! _

_She let out a groan and then heard someone calling. But certainly it couldn't be her, because her name wasn't Mary. _

_"Hey, Mary," an attractive blonde boy called. _

_Not sure if he meant her or not, Rory asked, "Me?" _

_He smirked,"Yeah, you." _

_"My name is Rory," she introduced herself, and correcting his use of the wrong name. _

_"I'm Tristin," he introduced himself. _

_"Hi," she greeted. _

_"So," he said, "you new?" _

_"Yeah, first day," she answered. _

_"Remmy's class is rough," he informed her. _

_"Yeah, it seemed very intense," she remarked. _

_"I could loan you my notes," he offered, "if that would help." _

_"Really?" she said, enthused. "That would be great." _

_"Yeah?" he said, his voice suddenly lower, and his body inching closer to her,pushing her up against the wall, "How great?" _

_"I don't know," Rory said, getting confused and slightly nervous, "Mr. Remmy said that getting someone elses notes would be..." _

_"I could even help you study," he offered, smirking, "if you want." _

_"Uh, I kind of view studying as a solitary activity," she said, getting weirded out by this guy, "but thanks." _

_"Bye Mary," Tristin said and walked off. _

_"It's Rory!" she called after him. _

Rory frowned slightly at the memory. God she'd hated him. He'd been so annoying. She knew that had he been able to stop being a jerk for five minutes they would have been good friends but he hadn't been able to. That was just how he was. 

He was just plain Tristin. 

She wondered about him sometimes, like what had happened after military school, where he was now. Rory sighed and stretched. This place would be good for her. Something told her that it would. 

"So, are you just going to sit there all day, or are you going to order something?" a male voice asked and she looked up to see a tall guy there, with messy blonde hair that looked as though it had been cut a while ago and was growing back. 

He was well built, with broad shoulders, and... 

Blue eyes met blue eyes, and dejavu hit her senses once again. A memory from her past was staring her straight in the face. Tristin Dugrey was as shocked as she, slack jawed. 

"Mary," he'd breathed. 

"Dugrey," she'd breathed. 

Then there was an awkward silence. 

**A/N: What do you think? It's my 3rd trory chapter fic. For the record, I spelled Tristin the way I did because in the Gilmore Girls books, that's how they spell his name. I thought I'd mention that because in my first trory fic I got like a hundred reviews with people saying that I'd spelled his name wrong. **


	2. To hell with common sense

**disclaimer: I own nothing. **

Title: The safe haven

Summary: Takes place after the season finale. Rory Gilmore runs away from her grandparents and finds a face from the past. Trory.

Chapter two

To hell with common sense

The grandfather clock in his house chimed and though he heard it, he needn't look to see what time it was. He knew that it was time for him to get his stuff settled for the night. Tristin Dugrey was on a routine, it was a habit. Ever since his father had shiped him off to military school, routine, routine, routine, had been instilled in his mind. He had one for the entire day.

In the morning, he'd wake up precisely at five when his alarm clock radio would ring. He'd groan, open his eyes, blink several times to adjust to the bright light, and then he would turn over and shut the annoying machine off.

Next, he would get out of bed, drag his ass down the stairs, make himself something half way edible to eat, and then drag himself back up again and take a shower, then get dressed in his usual baggy jeans and a stained t-shirt. Afterwards, he'd go into his study, pay some bills, and then leave the house and do morning errands.

At eight, he would arrive at his diner, Mary's. Once there, he'd open the place up for shop, and get ready for a full days work. Then come closing time, he'd drive himself back to his house, have dinner, read or sometimes, on a rare occassion, watch television. Then he would walk back up the stairs, get another shower, and turn in for the night.

It was how his day went, always. Every now and then instead of going directly home he'd go out with a friend of his, either Duncan or Bowman, and then sometimes if he was in the mood, he'd have a date, which he still never failed to get.

Never once since Military school had he talked to his parents. All forms of communication had stopped when they'd shiped him off. Duncan and Bowman had got sent with him too, and they as well had broke off any ties they might have had with the Hartford society life.

They had become better friends and better people because of it. It was, in short, a pathetic existance. He was neither rich, nor poor, and his name meant nothing to those that he met. No misjudgements were made about him and he had a great group of people that he called friends who were his employees and neighbors.

During military school, Tristin had taken a liking to cooking. Once he'd graduated, he had made a descision to stay in North Carolina, Duncan and Bowman had stayed along as well. They'd found Beaufort when looking for a place to live, and their first year out had shared a small, three bedroom, one story house.

Now they all lived on their own, Tristin living in a nicely sized white painted two story house with three upstairs bedrooms. One had been made into his study, the other his bedroom, and the third, his small library.

Mary's Diner had been founded by Tristin and was ran by himself, Duncan, and Bowman. Tristin was the boss and cook, Duncan second cook, and Bowman was the co-manager with Tristin.

The name, Mary's Diner, had not been a coincidence. When looking for a name of the diner, Tristin had remembered Lorelai Leigh Gilmore, more commonly known as Rory Gilmore, the girl who had stolen his heart in his Chilton days, and had never given it back. He remembered the nickname he'd given her that had irritated her so, smiled and suggested the name to his friends.

They'd looked at him oddly, but being at a loss for names, had agreed. So the empty building on main street that had once been the local bar became Mary's Diner.

Today, Tristin had been confronted with the owner of that nickname, Mary herself. In other words, the one, the only, Rory Gilmore.

When he'd seen the young twenty year-old walk in, he'd been mesmerized and couldn't figure out why. There'd been a sense of dejavu, and then, when she looked up at him and he'd seen those familar, haunting blue eyes, he'd remembered instantly.

"Mary," he'd breathed.

"Dugrey," she'd breathed.

Then there was an awkward silence. Of all the people tto walk into his diner, she did. This was not what he needed. He'd only gotten over her a few years ago, and now she'd come back into his life. Great.

"Gilmore," he'd said bitterly, "what are you doing here?"

Rory was taken aback by his attitude, and said, "I came here completely by accident. I didn't know you lived in this town. I was looking for a place to live, and decided to stop here."

"What'd you do, play innie minnie miney moe in order to find your new home?" he said, irritated by the fact that she was there. He knew what was going to happen. It was going to be high school all over again.

He'd fall madly in love with her, she would be completely oblivious to it, and then she'd be gone, and he'd never get his chance with her. Their story was always one hundred percent predictible.

"No," she said, ticked off by his behavior towards her, "I didn't. Look, I didn't plan this. I didn't even know you were here. I haven't even thought about you in years. It wasn't on purpose that I came, it just happened."

"It just happened?" Tristin snorted. "Sure it did."

Rory rolled her eyes. "You ever heard of serendepity, Tristin? It's not my fault I stopped here. Gut instinct told me to which means that obviously whatever the hell my destiny is, its going to take place in this town. So blame serendepity Tristin, not me."

He sighed. "Look," he said, "I'm sorry. It's just...out of all the people from my past to come through those doors, you were the one I didn't expect at all. I'm just surprised."

"Your surprised?" she said. "I am, too. I mean, I haven't thought about you once since the Shakespeare thing, and then bam, I walk into a diner and your there, a completely random diner. Speaking of which, what are you doing working at a diner? Shouldn't you be at Princeton or something?"

"Nah," he said, "I'm the black sheep of the family now, I kind of tarnished the Dugrey name and once I got to military school, I never went back. I'm done with Hartford, and Hartford's done with me. Hell, I haven't talked to my Father since the day after he shiped me here to North Carolina."

"That's good you got away from them," she said, "I remember Paris said once that your folks weren't that great."

"Well, they weren't," he said.

"So, now explain the diner, and the coincidental name?" she said.

"The names not coincidental," he said, "your memory popped up when I was thinking about names. As for the diner, its mine. I took up cooking in high school and liked it. Then I moved here with Duncan and Bowman who were shiped off to military school with me, and we opened this place together. They're around here somewhere."

There was a moments silence and they just sat there, staring at each other. Rory smiled and she said, "You did good Dugrey."

"Thanks," he said, smiling back.

Then he grew a little worried. If Rory Gilmore was randomly showing up in the small town of Beaufort then something must be wrong. Shouldn't she have been back home with her Mother, spending the summer with her, having a good time, waiting for the next Harvard school year to start?

"So," he said, "what are you doing in nowheresville U.S.A, Mary?"

"Oh, we so should have started with me," she said reluctance in her voice and Tristin could tell that she didn't want to talk about it.

"I'm sorry," he said, "I understand if you don't want to talk about it."

"Thanks," she said and then after a moments pause, added, "so do you have coffee in this joint?"

Tristin chuckled slightly. Still the same old Mary, he thought. Then he said, "Only the best North Carolina has to offer."

With that, he poured her a cup, and then got back to work.

Sighing, Tristin ran his hands through his hair, and adjusted himself in the big, comfy lazy boy chair. He was tired and weary. By all rights, he should have been in bed right now, but the thought of Rory Gilmore in the same town as him was keeping him up.

That fact would keep any straight male up.

The phone rang and Tristin didn't want to pick it up at all. He wanted to sit there and drown himself in thoughts of Rory Gilmore. But finally he relented and picked up the phone.

"Hello?" he croaked.

"Dugrey man, you sound like crap," Bowman's voice came through the phone.

"Yeah well," he said, "you try getting hit with a ten pound hammer, and you see how it feels."

"Dude," said Bowman, "what the hell are you talking about?"

Tristin sighed. "I'll tell you about it later," he said, "I don't feel like talking about it now."

"Okay," said Bowman, "you had better tell me. Look, I just wanted to tell you I'd be in late tomorrow for work, alright? I've got this thing to go to out of town and it runs late."

"Frat party, in other words?" Tristin said, chuckling. Bowman wasn't even in college and he still got to enjoy the lifestyle.

All the girls their age were all pretty much in college and Bowman knew a lot of girls.

"You know me too well," said Bowman.

Tristin rolled his eyes and then said, "Whatever. I'll see you tomorrow buddy."

"Yeah," said Bowman, "see you tomorrow."

Tristin hung up the phone and shook his head. Sometimes he wondered if he needed a good old fashioned night of stupidity, like so many a night he'd had in his high school days. Common sense stopped him though and sometimes he wondered if he should just say to hell with common sense...

The one thing he knew that he could never go to hell with however was Rory Gilmore...unfortunately.

**A/N: Chapter two, as quickly as possible. Thanks so much for reviewing. You guys are awsome.**

**Thank you to: **

**Blackrougefillie:Your penname rules. Thank you. I'm glad you like the story. **

**Poetic Angelica: I'm not really sure where its going, but it will be long, and there will be plenty of troryness. **

**mochaddicted79: I like going for the original. ;) **

**piper-h-99: You say the magic words and it happens. I swear the more you put update please, update please, the more sooner I am too. lol. **

**royaleye: It takes place after the season five season finale. So, a few. **

**Sum41rocks:Really? That's cool. I was flipping through my copy of A walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks and it takes place there and the way he described it made it sound cool and I needed a place that was in North Carolina. I could have made one up, but I was too tired. **

**mar0506: Thanks, I thought that would be a great idea, just to put them in an unusual setting. **

**jmarit17:lol. Thanks, I thought Mary's diner would be cute, considering where the nickname orginated. I couldn't picture putting Tristin in a business firm. On the show, it kind of seemed like he resented that way of life a little bit, so I decided to make it not the typical trory fanfiction where he's running the family business. **

**beautymarked:Thanks. ;) **

**Thank you guys. Heres to hoping you'll like chapter two just as much. **

**Love n' stars, **

**Cambria **


	3. The mystery of the human heart

**Chapter Three **

**The mystery of the human heart**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Gilmore Girls belongs to Warner Bros. And Landon Carter belongs to Nicholas Sparks. **

**A/N: I'm making this a slight crossover fic, I guess you would call it. I'm bringing in a character from the book, A Walk to Remember. A lot of you most likely know the movie better, but the book is told as an older version of Landon tells his story about him and Jamie. I thought an Older Landon in the story would be a nice mentor for Rory and Tristin and would be able to help them sort out their issues with one another, since Lorelai isn't there. **

Lorelai Gilmore dialed her daughters cell phone once again. It rang three times, and then finally she got the answering machine. "Hello, you've reached the cell phone of Rory Gilmore-----" at this point Rory had been interjected by Lorelai, who put her own input, "The sex goddess!" "Mom, really, you are being so immature." "Well, you're a college girl. You want people to think that you are doing bad things." "Mom..." "Oh my god, it recorded that. I didn't think you were actually recording!" "Of course I was recording." "You have like two seconds left----" "Uh, Um, leave a message at the beep."

She sniffed at the memory. Lorelai missed her daughter but they were not on speaking terms. That was evident. She wasn't even living with her grandparents anymore. She had just up and left, leaving a simple note that said, 'I can't take it anymore'. There was no word on where she was going, no nothing.

"Hey sweets," said Lorelai, "Um...look, I know we're not on speaking terms or anything at the moment, but everyone's really worried about you. You just left with out a warning. So if you could just give us some sort of sign...or something. You know, give us a ring, or an e-mail, or...maybe you could find Harry Potter and borrow his owl, Hedwig. I know how you loved the owl."

Lorelai sighed. "Just let us know that you're alright," she said, "I mean, if you need anything. Just cry wolf."

Beep! There was no more time to make the message any longer. Sighing once again, Lorelai hung up the phone.

"Hey Lor," came Luke's voice. After her sudden proposal, Luke had accepted and then moved into the house with her. "You okay?"

He walked down the stairs to the kitchen where she was. Seeing that there were tears on her face, he frowned, and then walked over and hugged her. "Hey," he said in a calm, soothing voice, "hey what's wrong? Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, its good, its fine..." Lorelai lied. "I'm just blubbering for no reason. I'm really peachy, I'm..."

Luke gave her a look that said he wasn't buying any of it.That was what really let Lorelai have the break down. Instead of holding back the tears, Lorelai let them come out once again. "I miss my kid, Luke," she said, "I'm worried about her. I have no idea where she is. She won't answer my calls, my e-mails, hell even if I sent a smoke signal, she probably wouldn't answer that either. Everything is so screwed up and I just miss Rory..."

Luke sighed. "It's okay," he said, "it'll be okay. Just give her time to cool off and she'll calm down and call you from where ever she is. Give her time."

"You think? How much time? A few days? Weeks? Months? How long does it take to cool down after something like this? I mean, there has to be a set period of time. But then again it must vary too, depending on how mad the person is. I mean, Rory can't be that mad. She's never been that mad at me. The closest big fight we've gotten into was when The Dean Thing and it took her an entire summer to calm down after that. What am I supposed to do? Wait another summer? I can't wait an entire summer. I want my kid and I------"

"Sssh," Luke shushed her, "you're rambling."

Lorelai stopped her rambling and then sighed. It was good to have Luke here. It was nice that they were engaged. God, she wanted to be able to tell Rory that they were engaged. She wanted her at the wedding. She wanted Rory there. She needed Rory.

Meanwhile, in Beaufort, Rory Gilmore sat in Mary's diner, a newspaper spread out in front of her, when her cell phone rang. She saw the number, and noting that it was home, decided not to answer it. Talking to her Mother now would only lead to another blow out and she really didn't want that..

The two of them were mad at each other enough as is.

Rory frowned. She really did miss her Mother. But both of them were stubborn and she knew that neither one of them was going to give for a long time.

Tristin, who was cleaning the diner counter, noted the unhappy look on Rory's face, and made his way over to her booth. Sitting down on the opposite side, he said, "Well, that's a happy face."

Rory sighed. "It's nothing," she said, "I'm just not a morning person, especially without my coffee. But give me a cup of coffee and then I am all sunshine and happiness."

Tristin chuckled. "Haven't you already had five already?" he said.

"Six is the magic number to wake a Gilmore up," she said.

Tristin raised an eyebrow. "Six?" he said. "There is no way you can drink six cups of coffee every morning. That is inhumanely possible."

"Nothing is inhumanely possible," said Rory, "once my Mom and I ate ten whole pizza's in a row."

"You shared, right?"

"Nope," said Rory, "she had ten and I had ten."

"Gilmore," he said, shaking his head, "you're a mad woman."

"It runs in the family," she said, "so what do you say? Another cup of coffee to brighten up the morning."

"Six cups," said Tristin, "is crazy, not to mention unhealthy. Nope, you're not getting it."

"Oh come on," said Rory, "you're starting to sound like Luke."

"Luke?"

"Yeah, Luke," said Rory, "he's my Mom's boyfriend. He owns a diner in Stars Hollow and has been like a Dad to me."

"Gee thanks," said Tristin with sarcasm, "I'm starting to sound like your father figure. Well, way to make a guy feel like a ladies man."

Rory chuckled. "I didn't mean it like that," she said, "besides, I'm certain your girlfriend makes you feel manly enough."

Tristin frowned. "I don't have a girlfriend," he said.

"Girlfriends then?" Rory offered.

"Ror," he said, "I'm not the same guy I was in high school. I've changed."

Rory sighed. "Sorry," she said, "I was just joking. I didn't know it would get under your skin so much."

"Yeah well," said Tristin, "it's okay. Just...talking about who I was kind of bugs me. Looking back now, I was a complete idiot not to mention an ass. I'm not proud of it. If there was one thing I could do, I wish I could start off fresh in Hartford, and not have people view me as who I was then. You know, it's just...hard having to face the stuff that you aren't proud of."

"I know what you mean," said Rory.

He quirked a brow. "Rory Gilmore have stuff that she isn't proud of? Nah, I couldn't see that. You're Mary, after all."

Rory cringed. "You know I hate that nickname right?" she said.

"Yeah, I know," he said, "which is exactly why I call you that. Just to irk you."

She chuckled at him. "Some things never change," she said.

"Yeah," said Tristin, "you know, I always wondered about us. Why weren't we ever friends?"

"We tried," said Rory, "we were trying, before you left. But then you screwed things up with that stupid P.J. Harvey Fiasco."

"Oh that," Tristin said wincing, "sorry." Then after a few moments, he said, "So how are you and the bag boy anyway?"

"Uh," said Rory, "can we avoid all things related to The Bag Boy?"

"Part of your coming here, right?"

"No," said Rory, "but still not a good conversation topic."

"I guess things are bad then," said Tristin, "well, that answers my question. So, how long are you staying?"

"Not sure," said Rory, "maybe the summer, maybe a bit longer. I don't know. I haven't really thought about it."

"Well," said Tristin, "you might as well have a place to stay since you don't know how long you're going to stay. Where are you putting your head down for the night now?"

"Some inn," said Rory.

"We can't have that now, can we?" said Tristin. "Look, I've got a friend. Nice old guy named Landon Carter. He lives by himself. I go by and help fix up his house sometimes, but you know, he still needs someone to help him around the house. He can't find anyone though. He's kind of well known in the town, been here since he was a kid, and he doesn't want people helping him out because they think he's a pity case. The mans got room to spare. I'll see if he'll put you up, and if he'll give you a job. He's got a fairly good amount of money, should pay you decent."

"Really?" said Rory. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," he said, "Its the least I could do...y'know, after The P.J. Harvey Fiasco."

A smile curved up on Rory's lips. "You're something else, Dugrey," she said.

"And so are you, Mary," he said, "so are you."

**A/N: Wow, already thirty reviews. I'm amazed. I want to thank the following people for putting this story on their favorites list: **

**Christinitsirhc **

**Gilmore1987 **

**Sarai **

**shiftmysta **

**thegame44**

**To all of my reviewers: **

**Pearls24: Finals...eeeeeek. So glad I'm done with all my testing. **

**Sum41rocks: Agreed. I love A Walk to Remember. As you can see, since I'm putting one of the characters in here. lol. The book is definately good. I read it in one day! An amazing feet. lol. Although, not so amazing when your me, and read like Rory Gilmore. lol. **

**ETB467: Trory rules. **

**PoeticAngelica: It'll be good for him in the end. lol. He's very pessimistic right now**.

**smile1: Glad you liked that. I tried making it different instead of the normal, 'Oh my god she's back'. Which, admittedly, I did in my last fic, but oh well. **

**0oHaleyScotto0: Thanks. **

**mochaddicted79: lol. It should most definately be interesting. **

**piper-h-99 **

**royaleye: Thanks. Its a different kind of Tristin, but still Tristin. ;) **

**Callista Woolfwood **

**Sarai: She will, eventually. Once she gets her confidence back up. She's still feeling insecure about the Huntzburger thing. **

**Kou shun'u: Don't really know, although accurracy is not what I'm going for. It IS just a fic. lol. **

**Druzilla **

**jmarit17**

**Thanks guys. You are really awsome for reviewing. I've mentioned this on two of my stories already, but for those of you who don't know, my first book in a series of books that I'm working on, Sandy Shores, is getting published. :) I'm not sure when 'cause we just got the contract and stuff, but it'll be within one hundred and eighty days, (six months) s I'll keep you posted. **

**Love n' stars, **

**Cambria **


	4. About an old man

**Disclaimer: I own neither the characters from Gilmore Girls or the characters from A Walk to Remember. **

Chapter four 

About an old man 

Landon Carter was an old man, who had lived in Beaufort, North Carolina, for as long as anyone could remember. The only time he'd left was to go to college, and even then, he stayed in North Carolina. He was in a way the essence of the town. His father, Worth Carter, had been a congress man. His Father-in-law had been Hegbert Sullivan who had been there even longer then Landon had been now up until his father-in-law's death. 

Landon was a strange case indeed. He was a gruff person most of the time, but once you got to know him, he was one of the nicest people that you could ever meet. Landon was the number one supporter of the churches in Beaufort, (although there were many now, there weren't nearly as many as there had been when he had grown up) and had gone to his own church every Sunday for everyday of his life, and had seen many a reverend pass through its walls. 

However, the strange thing about him was that no one ever saw him at church. Yet on Monday morning, you could hear him at Mary's Diner, which was like a second home to him, and he could recite every word of the sermon that had been said at Sunday's service. 

Landon had met Tristin Dugrey when the boy was just out of military school. The young lad and his friends had been down on their luck, looking for a place to live, and Landon had helped them find a place. The boys had been eternally grateful and insisted on repaying him. Landon, never one to take money from others, or be a charity case, told the boys there was no need for that. The boys however felt that there was. So they made a bargain; when Landon needed help with something, they would be there to help him. It was as simple as that. 

Of the three boys, Tristin was perhaps the one who was closest to Landon. Landon was like the grandfather Tristin had never had, and Tristin like the grandson Landon had always wanted. They suited each other. In Tristin, Landon saw much of himself from when he was younger. Often, Landon would find himself looking at the young man, thinking of his past, and Tristin would look up at him, and ask what was on his mind, and Landon would simply shake his head, and say, "Nothing." 

The thing that really connected Landon to Tristin however was their love lives. Landon had never told Tristin the story about his wife, although Tristin had asked him many a time, but it was a story that Landon felt the need to keep to himself. He always told Tristin, "When the time is right, I'll tell you." 

The time so far hadn't been right. 

But Tristin had found the right time to tell Landon about his own love life. It had been on a summer evening during his first year in Beaufort. The two men, young and old, had been sitting out on the porch of Landon's house, in rocking chairs, and had been talking about this that and the other thing. 

It was then that the subject of why he had been sent to military school came up. 

"Now son," said Landon, "there's something that I've wanted to know. You're a good man, and you always said that you weren't sent to military school on your own accord. Pardon me for asking this, but you know an old mans curiosity does get the best of him, why did you get sent to military school?" 

Tristin sighed. "It's a long story, Carter," he said. When Landon and Tristin had first met he'd called Landon 'Mr. Carter' and Landon never liked people calling him 'Mr' and insisted that Tristin just call him 'Carter'. 

"Well," said Landon, "I ain't dying yet. Go on boy, it does the heart good to open up. Keeping it closed just makes the blood get clogged, if you know what I mean." 

Tristin ran a hand over his head and then said, "Where do you want me to start?" 

"The girl," Landon said. 

Tristin looked at him quizzically. "How do you know it started with a girl?" he asked. 

"It always does," Landon said. 

"Well, you see, before North Carolina, I lived in Hartford, Connecticut, and was basically this spoiled, jerk, rich kid. I went to a privet school called Chilton. Now I had been gone from school for a while because my Grandfather (bastard if there ever was one) was sick, and when I got back there was this new girl and her name was Rory Gilmore..." Tristin's voice had drifted into the night as he told the story, and Landon had sat there listening to the story with a look that was a mixture of bemused and sympathetic. 

Now, in present day, he sat on his porch again, only this time it was in the back of the house (for the porch went all the way around) and he was looking out at the view. He heard someone come in and he knew it was the girl. Tristin had called him earlier to tell him about her situation and he'd agreed to let her stay with him. He was getting old; he needed help around the house anyway, he'd said. In truth he thought it would be nice to have some company around with him. 

"Well," he said in his usual gruff voice, "are you going to come out here, or are you just going to stand there?" 

He could imagine the girls surprised look clearly. Landon almost chuckled, but refrained from it. "Mr. Carter?" the girl asked. 

"What am I---------your grandfather? Please, its just Carter," he said, still facing out towards his backyard, not turning to face the girl. "Come over here, Miss Gilmore." 

The girl walked over and sat in the chair on the other side of the table that was between them. Landon got a good look at her. She had a round face, shoulder length brown hair, a small frame, and blue eyes that he had only seen once before on Tristin. He smiled inwardly; yes he could see how Tristin had fallen for the girl. 

"I'm Lorelai Gilmore," she said, "but everyone calls me Rory." 

"Nice to meet you, young Lady," he said, "now, from what our friend Tristin tells me, I understand that you are in need of a living space?" 

"Yeah," said Rory, "I came here on a whim and I'm not really sure how long I'm going to stay. Maybe for the summer, maybe longer. I need a place to stay, what ever the care." 

"Well," said Landon, "I happen to have a room for you. Nice view, very nice view. It's not too big, not too small. I'll give it to you for free in exchange for help out. How's that sound?" 

"That'd be great," Rory said, smiling, "thank you, Carter." 

"You're welcome, Rory," he said. He looked at her thoughtfully for a moment. Yes, he decided, Tristin's story would get a better ending then his. A lot better ending. 

There was the sound of the bell tinkling overhead and out of habit, Tristin looked up from the counter where he was taking a customers order. He was greeted with the sight of a smiling Rory who, much to his surprise, ran up behind the counter to him, and gave him a big hug. 

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she squealed in happiness. 

Tristin laughed. "You're welcome," he said. He should have expected this to be coming. After all, Landon had already told him that he would let Rory live with him. 

"You are the best, seriously," said Rory, "the rooms awesome and Carter seems real nice. A little ruff around the edges, but nice. I could kiss you right now." 

Tristin smirked and said playfully, "I always knew you had that desire somewhere in you, Mary." 

Rory merely rolled her eyes. "I'm going to choose to ignore the evil nickname," she said, "and I'm going to offer to get you dinner later on." 

Tristin looked at her curiously. "Rory," he said, "I'd rather not have Beaufort burned down. From what Paris told me, Gilmore women can not cook and live strictly off of frozen meals, junk food, and fast food." 

"I won't lie to you, and I'll ignore the fact that you got information from Paris about me," said Rory, and she added, "and I never said that I was going to cook, I just said I was going to get you dinner. So what do you say? Get off work around seven and have dinner with an old friend?" 

Tristin chuckled. "Old friend, huh?" he said. "Because it seems to me that I'm looking at a new one." 

Rory laughed and slapped him playfully. "C'mon, Tris," she said, "Don't pretend like you didn't always want to go to dinner with me." 

Then, Duncan, who had just appeared said, "I conqure with Gilmore over there. You have always want ed to go out with Gilmore here." 

Rory, noticing Duncan, said, "Good to see you, stranger." 

"Yeah," said Duncan, "you too," then turning to Tristin, "c'mon Dugrey, don't be an ass wipe.Go have dinner with the girl." 

Tristin glared at his friend. "I'm going to ignore the ass wipe comment," he said. 

Rory was now giving him the puppy dog look. "Please Tris," she said, "please, please, please Trissy." 

Duncan laughed. "Yeah," he said, "c'mon Trissy." 

Tristin shot his friends a look and then smiled at Rory and said, "Alright, alright I'll go. You know I can never say no to the puppy dog look." 

"I know," said Rory smiling, "that's why I use it." 

Tristin just laughed and hugged her. "Go on, get out of here," he said, "I'll see you at seven, okay?" 

"Okay," said Rory and she held onto him for a few minutes and then let go, smiling at him, and left the diner. 

Duncan walked over to him, smiling impishly. "What?" Tristin demanded. Duncan just kept on smiling. "Really, what are you smiling like an idiot for?" Tristin asked. 

Then Duncan broke out in song, singing, "Love is in the air. Everywhere I go, love is in the air-------" Tristin rolled his eyes at his friend and just walked away as Duncan kept on singing and then finally burst out laughing. 

**A/N: You gotta love a singing Duncan. lol. So there's chapter four. What do you guys think? Do you like the Landon thing or what? **

**Thanks to:**

**OTHlover04: There's the next chapter for you. :) **

**mar0506: You're not alone. I'm the same way with the book and the movie. Six months...I'm going to go insane. lol. **

**l-dogg**

**Callista Wolfwood: Thank you. It'll be out eventually. lol. :) **

**Sarai: Agreed. I'm no fan of criticism, but I can bear it. Every once in awhile, I'll get a review that does have criticism in it, and while it may upset me a little while, I get over it quickly, take it, and attempt to do something with that criticism. Sometimes it helps. **

**smile1: Aw, thanks. I'm glad you like how I focus on the relationships and that you think it gives it layers and is an interesting read. Thank you it means a lot that you like it. **

**lizzio: Yeah, I read a lot of Nicholas Sparks works. I've read A Walk to Remember, The Notebook, and parts of The Guardian. **

**Poetic Angelica: There will be more LL in other chapters too. For now I'm just going to focus on the Trory part of it. Lorelai will, at one point later on in the story, show up at Beaufort to help Rory sort some things out. **

**Sum41rocks: While I don't sniff books like Rory either, I will admit, that I love the smell of books in a library or a used bookstore when you first walk in. lol. **

**Druzilla: Thanks. lol. You live in Iceland? That's so cool. :) Although you might think I'm a mad person for saying that since I know people usually think where they live is boring, I know I think where I live is boring. The book is about an unconventional/introverted teenage girl named Cassie Steele who lives in Sandy Shores, North Carolina. She gets into a fight with her Dad, who ahem-is basically a control freak (I swear its not based on my life at ALL. lol. Okay, you caught me, it is. Some of it is. Its twisted though to make it interesting yet relatable.) and her Dad is then in an accident that makes his future look dire and causes Cassie to have to deal with it and she is forced into therapy by her Mother and the therapists son happens to be high school freshman jock, Ryan Anthony, and the bane of Cassie's existence, the person who she hates most in the world right after Dear Old Dad, is forced by his Mother to help Cassie deal with her Dad thing. Glad you liked the chapter. Here's to hoping you liked this one just as much. :) **

**jmarit17: Glad you like the Landon thing. The whole Lorelai deal made me tear up a little when I was writing it. :) **

**LoVe23: Glad you think so and thanks:)**

**Pearls24**

**Laine7727: I agree. I hate when people say that they are the same thing. They have the same characters, but the story lines are really different. **

**Thanks you guys. You all rock and you will probably hear that a million times more while I'm writing this. It's really special when reviewers keep on coming back to me for more. And when I get new ones. :) **

**Love n' stars, **

**Cambria **

**P.S: I also want to thank kat620, lizzio, and smileylove567 for adding my story to their favorites list. I always feel really special when people do that. **


	5. A different light

**The Safe Haven **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls, or A walk to remember. Gilmore Girls is owned by Warner Bros and Amy Sherman Palladino. A walk to remember is owned by Nicholas Sparks. **

**Chapter five **

**A different light **

Nervous hands, nervous legs...Tristan Dugrey was all about the shakes tonight. This feeling of complete and utter uncertainty was not something he had felt since high school, and he felt it completely appropriate that Rory Gilmore was the one who brought it back, since she had been the one who had started it. He remembered walking through Chilton, his overly cocky facade turned on, but at the same time his hands sweating at the thought of seeing her. There was something about this girl that set him into over drive on the emotion scale. It awas like everything was suddenly a hundred times more intense.

Tristan brushed his hair, and looked at himself in the mirror. What was he doing, freaking out? He had to remember to keep his feelings in check. He had no idea what to expect from this evening. Rory had just asked him out to dinner, nothing more. Not a lot could happen over what was probably going to be an evening of burgers and onion rings by the pier.

It was a dinner between old friends, simply a way to catch up on things that had come and gone. They would both fill in the blanks about life after Chilton, especially about that night after the _Romeo and Juliet_ play, when they had left things with them, unfinished because they'd never really gotten a chance to start anything.

"Dugrey, are you ever planning on coming out of that bathroom man, or did you drown yourself in the toliet when you realized that Rory was a complete and total idiot for ever wanting to go near the likes of you?" came Duncan's sarcastic voice from down stairs.

"Real funny man," Tristan called back down, returning equal the amount of sarcasm. "Relax, I'll be down in a sec."

"Good man, because I really need to piss," came Duncans reply.

Tristan shook his head, deciding to check himself one more time to make sure he was all together just in case and to irritate Duncan further so he had to wait for the bathroom longer. They may have been buddies but it was still fun to mess around with him once and a while. He opened the door and found Duncan waiting there impatiently.

"Finally, pretty boy," Duncan said, "you done or you need one more mirror check?"

"I'm done," said Tristan.

"Good," said Duncan and he pushed Tristan aside and quickly went into the bathroom, locking the door behind him. Tristan swore he heard a sigh of relief a few seconds later, and he shook his head and went on down stairs.

Tristan went out on the porch to wait for Rory and was surprised to find Bowman sitting there on the porch swing, a newspaper opened to the sports section in his hands. He shook his head. "What the hell is this, chaperone Tristan night?" he said, and Bowman looked up from his newspaper, a grin on his face.

"C'mon Tristan son," Bowman was saying in a ward cleaver voice, "you know you're Mother and I have to make sure this girls good enough for you." Tristan smacked his buddy on the head in a joking manner, and Bowman just laughed.

Tristan took a seat next to him on the porch swing, shaking his head at his friends. "Tell me how I got stuck with you two numskulls for friends again."

"Well, it was either us or hanging out with Paris," said Bowman, "and you couldn't very well do that otherwise you would have drowned in her drool as she blayantly salivated over you, like a dog."

"Oh right," Tristan said, looking pained, "can we make it a silent rule not to mention Paris ever again? I still have nightmares of her getting pissed off at me after our so called 'date'. The glares that girl gives are scary. If she were kryptonian, she'd have fire coming out of them."

"Noted," Bowman said, "no mentions of scary glare Gellar."

"Hey, that was kind of witty," Tristan commented.

"You think?" Bowman said.

"Yeah," Tristan told him.

"Cool," Bowman said, grinning, "I made up something witty. I have no idea what wit means, but still, I have it. Wait, wits a good thing to have, right?"

Tristan sometimes wondered about his friend. "Yeah Bowman," Tristan said, "wits a good thing."

Duncan came out from the front door and sat down on one of the white plastic chairs Tristan had on the porch, next to the swing. "I'm back," he announced, "so what'd I miss?"

"I have wit," Bowman announced.

"Oh, good for you," said Duncan, then he turned to Tristan, "what on earth is the man rambling on about? I know nothing of this wit." Tristan didn't respond. Helping them understand would only make their heads hurt, and then he'd have to listen to the two of them complain.

A car pulled up the driveway, and Tristan found himself having to remember to breathe. What the heck was he doing, going to dinner with Rory? This girl had caused him pain and humiliation. Suddenly he found himself wondering if perhaps maybe he shouldn't just tell her he wasn't feeling well or something, or that he was too tired from work. He kept on running through how he had acted around her in high school and he had this idea in his head that he was going to revert back to his old self and completely screw things up.

Duncan noticed the look on Tristan's face and shook his head at his friend, apparently finding it amusing how much he was wigging out about this whole thing that was really "just dinner". Tristan told himself to relax and stop freaking out, but it really wasn't working. He couldn't help it. The whole thing was just too weird.

Rory parked her car and got out. She was wearing a simple light blue skirt with a white top, but some how the outfits being simple made her even more beautiful."Hey," she said, smiling as she walked up the porch steps. "What, you have a party or something before dinner?"

Tristan knew the comment was a joke, but he couldn't help but feel slightly awkward. He must look like a complete wimp, having his two friends there to back him up. Not that he'd invited Duncan and Bowman over, they'd come over completely on their own accord, just to see him squirm.

"No," Tristan said quickly, causing Rory to look at him oddly. "I mean, no," he said, "the guys just decided to crash over at my house, because their televisions out. They wanted to watch the game."

Duncan and Bowman exchanged glances, not knowing exactly what Tristan was doing. He shot them a pleading look, and they both got the message. "Yeah, right," Duncan said, "we came over to watch the game..." he paused, and looked at his watch as though for the full effect, "...which starts in about ten minutes. Bowman, we'd better go and get the food."

Bowman got the hint and stood up saying. "Right, wouldn't want to miss the big...game," he paused and let out a slight snicker. Tristan hoped Rory hadn't heard that. Duncan got up as well, and the two waved to Rory and Tristan and then went back inside the house.

Tristan could have sworn he heard Bowman snickering.

There was a moment of awkward silence now that he was alone with Rory. Uncertain as to where to focus his eyes, Tristan stared at his feet. "So, are you ready to go?" Rory asked, making Tristan break contact with the floor and look up at her.

"Yeah, definately," Tristan said. With that, they both headed off to the car, got in and drove off to where ever it was they were going.

Fifteen minutes later they were still driving, with no one talking at all, the only noise being the radio. Both of them had attempted to talk, but it seemed as though they had nothing at all to talk about. It didn't help that neither of them were making eye contact. Or if they did, the other would look, and then they would look away so it appeared as though they were not making eye contact.

"So...do you know of any movies that are playing?" Rory asked. "Or of anything we could do? I mean, you live here. I'm not really in the know on what do do in this town."

Tristan chuckled, and now that one of them had spoken there seemed to be less tension in the car. "I don't really know either," he said, "there's not really much to do here in Beaufort. We're not exactly an entertainment capital. I just assumed we go out and eat, but the only really good place that's got decent food around here is the diner, and I'm not saying that just because I run it, it's the honest truth. Unless you want to spend a lot on a meal that'll have small portions."

"No thanks," Rory said.

The silence returned, and Tristan decided that he hated it. He needed noise, needed the conversation to continue...only he really couldn't think of anything to say, and that was part of the reason for the silence. He looked over at Rory, and saw a frown across her face. Then she smiled, as though something pleasant had just occurred to her.

"Here's a thought," Rory said, "why don't we just go to the diner?"

Tristan looked at her oddly. "You want to take me out to my own diner?" he said. "I go there every day. That wouldn't exactly be---" he caught himself before he finished that sentence. He had almost said the word 'romantic'. You're getting a little ahead of yourself, he thought.

"What?" Rory said, looking at him expectantly.

"...different," he finished, having chosen the word carefully. He didn't want to push her or for her to get the wrong ideas and run. Then he remembered an old place that he hadn't been to in a long time. "Turn here," he told Rory when he saw the street coming up. Rory looked at him oddly.

"Huh?"

"Turn here," he said, "I know this place I haven't been to in a while. You can take me there, and I will take it as your thanks for me finding you a place to stay." Rory was still looking at him a little oddly, but she did as he asked.

It took a while for them to get to the place. He'd forgotten how long it took usually. The place they were going to was an old play house. It had been vacant for years, according to Landon, ever since Jamies father, Hegbert, died. Hegbert had been a Reverend, and apparently a part time play write as well. He'd written a play about something to do with a man who'd lost his faith after losing his wife and an angel that makes him realize that he hasn't really lost his wife, but he still has a small part of her in the little girl he has. There was something to do with a music box, but he couldn't exactly remember what. It had been a long time since Carter had told him about it.

Anyway, the play house was vacant due to Jamie's father having died. People left it closed out of respect for Carter, as well as for Hegbert. People in the town really cared about the family, and it didn't seem right to go on performing plays there anymore. When they'd closed the play house down however, they'd given Carter the key.

After a time, over the course of their friendship, Carter had taken him there. He'd told him the story about how the play house was a big part of his and Jamie's relationship, and how it was her asking him to be in the play as the lead that had really made him get to know Jamie, and about the night of the play, when he'd been looking all over for Jamie to apologize for having been angry with her the night before, and then seeing Jamie, who'd been cast as the angel, in her costume, up there on stage, all beautiful, and about how that was the moment when he had realized that he was in love with her.

Tristan had told Carter that he was a lucky man, and remembered saying that if he ever found anyone half as good as Jamie, he'd be happy. They'd sat in the front row of seats in the play house, in complete silence, both of them lost in their own thoughts the rest of the night.

In the afternoon the next day, Carter had come to the diner for lunch. "What can I get you, Carter?" Tristan had asked.

"The usual," Carter replied, the usual being nothing but a cup of sweet tea and a grilled cheese sandwhich. Carter liked the basics. Tristan nodded, and shouted the order to Duncan who was in the kitchen in the back. Carter had caughed, and then rumaged through his pockets in the sweater he was wearing as it had been fall at the time.

He pulled whatever it was he'd been looking for out, and put it on the counter, shoving it towards Tristan, saying gruffly as he sometimes was, "Here." When he removed his hand, Tristan found that the object he had placed on the counter was a key.

"What are you giving me a key for?" Tristan had asked, curious.

"Its a copy of the key to the play house," Carter had answered, "after last night, I figured that you might want one. Just in case."

"Thanks," Tristan said, still surprised by the gift, and he added, "just in case of what?"

"Of the right moment," said Carter, "for when that girl of yours meets up with you again." Tristan had just shook his head at the time, not believing that Rory would ever come back. But he didn't want to squash the old mans dreams, so he pocketed the key, just because.

Though over the years he may not had thought running into Rory again was possible, he had still kept the key in his wallet, every day, just in case. Sometimes he'd gone and hung out at the play house, just to think. But lately he hadn't gone.

Now that she was back in his life again, he thought he had better put the key to good use. When they arrived at the play house, Rory asked, "Where are we?"

"A place I think you'll like," he said, and then smirked, adding, "just trust me." Rory shook her head and the two got out of the car, and he grabbed her by the hand and lead her to the door of the place, opening it with his key, and then the two went inside. He hoped the play house might work its magic as Carter seemed to think it would and make things normal between him and Rory.

Because, really, if he stood any chance of ever getting with her, they needed normalcy. No fake smiles and awkward silences. The play house seemed to be the place to get his feelings out in the open.

Once inside, Tristan told Rory, "Wait here."

He then headed down the steps. Despite it being dark, he did not trip once. He knew the place well enough that he could walk around it with his eyes closed. He got to the stage and hopped up on it, going to the back area where all the technical stuff was. He opened a small box on the wall where all the stage lights were, and he turned them on one by one. Color filled the room.

He came out onto the stage and saw Rory standing in awe, looking at the place. It really was beautiful, and he could tell that she was instantly taken with it.She made her way down the stairs of the aisleway, and she said as she reached the stage, "Okay, this place is amazing, but would you mind telling me where we are and why, of all the places you could go tonight, you picked an old abandoned theatre?"

"Its a play house," Tristan corrected her, "or at least that's what everyone around here calls it."

"I get that," said Rory, hopping up onto the stage with him, "but I don't get why we're here."

"Look, this place is really special to me," said Tristan, "and Carter, too. He might not want you to know his story, but I figure since you're going to be living with him, you've got a right to know some of it at least. Besides, he might not mind you knowing if it came from me."

Rory looked at him curiously. "Carters got a story, huh?" she said. "Well, this should be interesting to hear."

"It is, no doubt about it," Tristan said, then he walked over to the edge of the stage and sat down. He patted the empty space next to him, an evident gesture that he wanted Rory to come sit next him, so she did.

"Okay, so tell me this story," Rory said, adjusting herself so she wasn't too far off the stage.

"Well, this place is really important to the history of Carter and his wife," said Tristan. He saw the surprised look on Rory's face at the words 'Carter and his wife'.

"Carter was married?" she said. "I know I just met the guy, but I really can't picture it."

"I thought the same thing myself when I met him," said Tristan, "anyway, since I can't tell you the whole thing, I'll simply tell you the basics."

"The basics?" Rory said. "A story is never good with just the basics."

"Carters touchy about his story," said Tristan, "I can't let you know to much. You've got to wait for him to tell you it, and then he'll only tell you if he completely trusts you. He doesn't want to be a pity case, you see."

Rory sighed, "I guess I can do with just the basics for now, then. Besides, Carter will probably tell it better then you anyway."

Tristan laughed, shaking his head. "You're probably right," he said, and then he started, "Now, the thing about Carter is that..."

He knew the story by heart, and the words simply flowed from his mouth. He told her about the play, about Jamie's being an outcast because she was a goody goody, about how no one had been able to play the lead that year, and how Jamie, after an incident that lead to Landon and Jamie associating with one another, had asked him to do it. He told her about the fight they'd had, and about the night of the play, when Landon had seen Jamie as the angel, been amazed by her beauty, and realized that he was completely and totally in love with her. When he finished, he had to pause for a breath, because he hadn't breathed at all during that whole thing, and he had to collect the proper words for what he was going to say to her now.

"The point I'm trying to get across here is that...well, I know we've got a past, and we've had our differences, and as I've already made clear to you, I'm not that guy anymore, even though I know part of you may still think that way," Tristan said, "we had an okay friendship going on for a while there and the point is that...you know, Landon was able to see Jamie in a different light after that night, and I'm just hoping that you'll be able to see me in a different light now and we'll be able to start fresh, without all this baggage, nothing to make us have awkward silences when we meet or things like that. I want us to be friends."

Rory cocked her head to the side and was now looking at him. He had the feeling that he was being examined, like she was looking for whatever it was that had caused this change in him, had made him the man he was now, compared to the boy he'd been back then in their Chilton days. Something about him made her smile, and she said, with all the sincerity in the world it seemed, "Yeah, Tristan. We can be friends."

Tristan let out a sigh of relief. "Good," he said, "because I really didn't want to have given that whole speech for nothing. That would have made me look incredibly stupid."

They sat there the whole night, talking over the past, about what had happened after the play that night, and then about the years after Chilton. It was strange, because that night Tristan Dugrey and Rory Gilmore had learned more about one another then they had with a whole year and half of being in the same school together. Somewhere along the way, they'd fallen asleep, with Rory's head on his chest, looking like children who'd been worn out after a day of playing in the summer time.

Their presence had awakened old ghosts within the theatre, and from the dust of memories past, came the image of a young woman of about eighteen, dressed in a white gown, looking like an angel. She stared at the two on her stage, and was reminded of memories from long ago. They were friends and would be lovers. She just hoped they got enough time to be lovers.

The ghost kissed the young peoples foreheads, giving them her blessing, and her hope for them. She laughed, and it came out sweet, sounding musical. Then, as quickly as she had come, she vanished with the arrival of mornings light.

**A/N: So, I'm back. I finally got inspiration for this fic. Unfortunately I've been gone so long I have no idea how many reviews I have for the last chapter and can't answer them this time, but will continue to answer reviews with the next update. That is if I still have readers, which I hope I do. A walk to remember fans: If I made any mistakes, I apologize. Last time I checked though, I had the book memorized. **

**Hope you guys liked it. I told you I never give up on a fic. **

**Love n' stars, Cambria **

**P.S: I know on my last chapter, I mentioned my book was getting published. We switched publishing companies, and the book is out now. It's called Sandy Shores and you can only buy it at or If you live in the U.K. or over seas (I think its for both, not just U.K...not sure) then go to Also, myspace users check out the Sandy Shores myspace I made and get yourself a pretty banner for the book at: Add to your friends too, if you want. **


	6. The Beaufort Newspaper

_Disclaimer: I own neither Gilmore Girls nor A Walk to Remember. _

_A/N: Wow, I haven't updated this story in a long time. Sorry about that. See, I only update when I'm suffering from writers block on my real stories and I am suffering from major writers block on the really long story that I'm writing. Its 305 pages and it is nowhere near being done but there's this one part that I'm stuck on so needless to say I'm giving my brain a break and writing fanfiction. _

Chapter six

The Beaufort Newspaper

"Oh my god," Rory exclaimed as she woke up with a crick in her neck. She looked around the theatre-okay, Play House, as Tristan insisted on calling it-and realized that it was morning. It was morning and Tristan owned a diner that normally opened early and that he was now late opening, all because of her. How had they fallen asleep? She didn't even remember when they had fallen asleep. "Tristan," she said, trying to get him awake before shaking him awake, like she was planning on doing eventually since he wasn't awake despite her saying his name.

"TRISTAN," she exclaimed.

Tristan's only response was to let out a really loud snore. This, of course, caused Rory to let out a laugh. She couldn't help it. Tristan DuGrey snored? That was not something she had expected. He was Tristan DuGrey, after all, the guy that looked like a Greek God, who had been the subject of so many girls' fantasies in high school. Yet Tristan DuGrey snored. Tristan DuGrey snored, and he snored LOUDLY.

Rory quickly recovered from her laughter. She had to remain calm, because she had to get Tristan up and ready for work. "Okay, Tristan," she said, "I'm going to get you awake, because you have to go to work and I am not going to be responsible for you being late."

She sighed, and she shook Tristan awake, saying, "_Tristan_."

"I don't want to wake up," Tristan mumbled, his eyes closed, "I'm tired."

The poor guy probably did get up really early all the time. This was probably the first time that he had slept in for a long time.

"Come on," said Rory, "you've got to get up. You've got to get up, and go home, and get changed, and then you have to go to work, okay?"

Tristan sighed.

"Fine," he said, "fine, fine, fine."

His eyes opened.

"Sun," he said, "bright."

"Yes, I know it's bright," said Rory, "but you've got to go. You've got a diner to open."

"Rory," he said, "do you remember my two friends, Duncan and Bowman?"

"Yes," said Rory.

"Well," he said, "Duncan and Bowman also help run the diner. So, if I don't open it, they'll open it."

"Oh," said Rory, "I didn't think about that."

"Yes, well," he said, "but I should probably get you back. Carter's probably going to think that I kidnapped you or something."

Rory laughed. "Yeah, well," she said, "I need to get going and try to find work today."

"Okay, okay," he said, "let's go."

Tristan got up, and so did Rory, and the two of them headed out of the old theatre. "You know," said Rory, looking back at the play house, "this would be a very cool place to put on plays. It's a shame you couldn't restore it."

"If someone could raise the money, we probably could," said Tristan, "but there's no one here that's really good at fundraising that could raise enough money."

"Hmmm," said Rory.

The two of them got into Tristan's car. Tristan took Rory back to Carters. "Okay," he said, "You'll come into the diner for lunch?"

"Sure," said Rory.

"Alright," said Tristan, "I'll see you around noon?"

"Uh huh," said Rory, "bye, Tristan."

"Bye, Rory," he said.

Rory got out of the car and she headed into Carters house. Much to her surprise, she found Carter already awake and sitting in a chair in the living room, watching the morning news. "Well," said Carter, "getting in late?"

"I'm sorry," she apologized, "Tristan and I fell asleep."

"Fell asleep?" said Carter. "Is that what their calling it now?"

Rory laughed. "Honest Carter," she said, "It wasn't anything like that." She then looked at Carter. "Hey, do you have a newspaper I can borrow?"

"Sure," said Carter. He took the one that was right next to him. "Take this one. I was done with it anyway."

"I'm going to look for a job today," said Rory, "but before I do, do you have anything that you want me to do?"

"No," said Carter, "I'm fine for today. You spend the day looking for a job so that you can bring in some money."

"Thanks Carter," said Rory.

Rory headed into her small room and she sat down on her bed with her newspaper. She took out the classified advertisements, and there weren't many.

There was one for someone to work in a bookstore.

Well, that would be a good thing for her to do.

There was also a small newspaper position, but it didn't go into that much detail about what it was. She called the newspaper, called The Beaufort Gazette.

"The Beaufort Gazette, how can I help you?" asked the voice on the other line of the phone.

"Hi, I'm Rory Gilmore," she said into the phone, "I'm interested in your position that you're advertising in the newspaper."

"Ah, good," said the other person, "finally, someone's called about this position. I'm glad. It's a feature reporting position. I'm Perry Cooper by the way."

"A feature reporting position?" she said. "What's it pay?"

"Well," said Perry, "minimum wage, and then if you get better, we'll pay you more, okay?"

"Um," said Rory, "sounds good. But don't you want to see my resume or schedule an interview or something?"

"Have you ever worked on a newspaper before?" said Perry.

"Um, The Yale Daily News," said Rory.

"The Yale Daily News?" said Perry. "Well, then, you've got to be bright. Okay kid, you're hired."

"I'm hired?" said Rory. "Just like that?"

"Yes," said Perry, "just like that. Come on in when you get the chance."

"Um," said Rory, "okay can you tell me where-"

"See ya soon, kid," said Perry, interrupting her question, and then hanging up on her. Rory looked at her cell phone in amazement.

"Wow," exclaimed Rory, "that has to be the most interesting interview that I've ever had."

She hung up the phone and put it on her nightstand. She then grabbed her suitcase and she rummaged through it, looking for something nice to wear. She found slacks and a white shirt and then she put on some flat shoes and she grabbed her purse, and her car keys and she headed out of her room.

"Did you get a job?" asked Carter.

"Yes," said Rory, "the only problem is, I don't know where it is."

"You don't know where it is?" said Carter.

"It's The Beaufort Gazette," said Rory, "but Perry, the newspaper editor I guess, didn't tell me where it was. But I'm supposed to be there and I have absolutely no way of getting there."

"Well," said Carter, "I don't know. I couldn't tell you. Maybe Tristan knows?"

"Yes," said Rory, "I was thinking about that."

"Alright," said Carter, "I suppose that I'll see you later then."

"Yeah," said Rory, "see you later…."

"Yes, yes," said Carter, "see you later."

Rory headed out of the house and got into the car and headed to Mary's Diner. It was open, sure enough, and full of people. She headed on inside and as soon as she entered Tristan saw her and smiled. She walked on over to the counter, where he was busy taking orders.

"Hey," he said, "what are you doing here? I thought you weren't going to be coming here until lunch."

"Yeah, well, I'm not here to eat," said Rory, "I'm actually here to get directions."

"You've already got a job interview?" asked Tristan.

"Not a job interview," said Rory, "I actually managed to get a job."

"Wow," said Tristan, "that was quick. How did you manage that?"

"It's for The Beaufort Gazette," said Rory, "they must be running short on people or something. The guy hired me as soon as he'd heard that I'd worked on The Yale Daily News."

"Yale Daily News?" said Tristan. "I thought you went to Harvard."

"No, actually," said Rory, "I ended up getting into Harvard, Princeton, and Yale, but I visited Yale with my grandparents and ended up falling in love with it so I ended up going there."

"Wow," said Tristan, "that's quite a change."

"Yes," said Rory, "it was, but I loved it. Or at least I did until…" She trailed off, thinking about the failed internship with Mitchum Huntzberger. "Never mind-another story for another time. Look, I just need the directions to the newspaper. Do you happen to know where this is?"

"Well," said Tristan, "I actually do. I had to go there when they interviewed me about the diner. Um, it's on Seventh Street."

"Seventh Street?" said Rory.

"Yes," said Tristan, "you know what, why don't I just come with you?"

Rory sighed. "No, Tristan, that's okay," said Rory, "I mean I already made you late for work. I can't make you miss the rest of the day. I can find it out for myself."

"No," he said, "not really. Just trust me. Besides, Duncan and Bowman are both here. They can cover for me."

"Are you sure?" said Rory.

"I'm positive," he said, "besides, if I can't take off every now and then, what are the perks of being my own boss?"

Rory smiled.

"I suppose your right," she said.

"Hey Bowman!" Tristan called.

Bowman, who was currently taking care of a customer's order, looked over at Tristan. "What?" he said.

"The girl needs directions," he said, "I'm going to show her around, okay?"

"Okay," said Bowman, "see you later."

"See," said Tristan looking directly at her, "that's one of the perks of being the box, and working with your best friends."

"I guess so," said Rory, smiling.

Tristan walked around the other side of the corner and the two of them headed out of the diner and got into Rory's car. As they drove, Tristan gave Rory directions and she ended up at the seventh street. "Are you sure that this is where the newspaper is?" she asked.

"Positive," said Tristan.

"But I don't see-"

"Just trust me," said Tristan.

"Okay," she said, although she was somewhat skeptical.

The two of them got down the car and they headed down the street. In a very old building, Tristan stopped in front of it. The building didn't look like much, but there was indeed a sign that said The Beaufort Gazette on it.

"Wait a minute," said Rory, "you've got to be kidding me. This can't be the newspaper."

"I'm afraid it is," said Tristan, "you're not in New Haven anymore, or even at Yale."

"Yeah," said Rory, "I suppose your right. I don't know what I was expecting. I mean, Stars Hollow newspaper isn't exactly big either, but they're bigger than this."

"Sorry if you're disappointed," said Tristan, "but at least it's a job, right?"

"That's true," said Rory.

"So," said Tristan, "are you going in, or are you afraid you're going to get bitten?"

"Hey," said Rory, "I'm not afraid in the slightest."

"Sure," said Tristan, "sure. You want me to come in with you?"

"If you don't mind," said Rory.

"Okay," said Tristan.

Tristan walked over to the door and opened it for her. Rory smiled at him and then headed on inside and Tristan followed her after.

The office was small, with a few desks and a few computers and printers. It really wasn't much.

There were five people there, all at their desk except for one older man who was walking around talking fast on his cell phone. "Yes, yes, I know but…." Said the man, "okay, I just don't think Timothy Browning's first word is news….I know you want everyone to know about it, but how about you just send your family an e-mail or something?" There was a pause.

"Okay, okay," said the man, "you go ahead and cancel your subscription. I don't care."

The man hung up his cell phone and he let out an irritated sigh. Upon seeing Rory, he said, "This is one of the bad things about being the editor of a small town newspaper. Everyone knows who you are, and everyone thinks that everything is news. Are you delivering coffee and doughnuts? Because you don't look like the girl that usually does."

"Um, no," said Rory, "I'm not the girl who delivers coffee and doughnuts. I'm the girl who you hired this morning."

The man, who Rory assumed was Perry, looked over his shoulder at a woman who was sitting at her desk busily writing. "Nancy did I hire someone this morning?" he asked.

"Yes you did Perry," she said.

"Hmmm," said Perry, "thanks."

He turned back to Rory. "You'll be writing all the features. Oh yeah, do you know how to use a camera?"

"Kind of," said Rory.

"Well, you'll learn quickly because you'll have to take all your own pictures too," said Perry.

"Wait, wait, wait-you mean to tell me I'll be writing all the features?" said Rory. "And I've got to take all the pictures too?"

"Uh huh," said Perry, "we're a small newspaper. You're the only features writer that we've got."

"Um, okay-"

"Your first assignment is the elementary school play, okay?" said Perry. "It's today at four."

"What is the play?"

"_The Adventures of Tom Sawyer," _said Perry.

"Er," said Rory, "okay."

"Here's your press badge," said Perry, grabbing something off of one of the desks and handing it to Rory. It was nothing more than a business card for The Beaufort Gazette.

"Um, okay," said Rory, "any time you need the article in by?"

"Not really," said Perry, "sometimes it takes months for us to get an issue out, so the more articles we have, the better."

"Right," said Rory, "I'll get it into you."

"Sounds good," said Perry, "you are officially a journalist for The Beaufort Gazette. What's your name again?"

"Uh, Rory," she said, "Rory Gilmore."

"Right then," said Perry, "welcome. I'm Perry, editor in chief. The woman in the back with the auburn hair is Nancy, the man on my left who looks like a hippy is John, Goth girl over there is Maureen, and well, that's about it."

"Okay," said Rory, "nice to meet you all."

There were a few murmurs from the people who all appeared to be busily working on something and could have cared less about her. "Right," said Rory, "okay. I guess you should-"

"Take a seat at your desk," said Perry, "you might want to clean it. The last person who used it wasn't very organized."

"Right," she said. Rory turned and looked at Tristan.

"I'll see you at lunch, okay?" she said.

"Okay," said Tristan, "bye. Have a good day."

"Yeah," she said, "you too."

Much to Rory's surprise, Tristan kissed Rory on her forehead. "I'm going to walk back to the diner," he said, "bye." He waved, and then turned and headed out the door.

Rory watched him head down the street and then she turned and went to the empty desk that Perry had pointed to. It was indeed messy. She took one more glance at her surroundings. Well, it wasn't The New York Times, but everyone had to start somewhere.

Besides, maybe working at a small newspaper like this, she could remember why she wanted to be a journalist in the first place, and maybe work towards forgetting the internship that had ended so very badly for her.

_A/N: So I'm back. I finally updated this story. I know, it's been forever. But its updated so….hope you all like it. Please review. _


	7. It's a plan

_Disclaimer: I own neither the characters from Gilmore Girls or from A Walk to Remember. _

Chapter Seven

It's a plan

"This is painful," said Tristan, who was sitting in the seat next to Rory in the Beaufort Elementary School auditorium watching eight year-olds attempting to act out _The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. _Rory rolled her eyes at Tristan.

"I told you that you didn't have to come," said Rory.

"Well," said Tristan, "I had nothing better to do."

"Except," said Rory, "you know, work and everything."

"Yes, but this sounded so much better," said Tristan.

"Well, since you're the one that wanted to come, you can't complain," said Rory.

"Come on," said Tristan, "you can't tell me that you are actually enjoying watching Timmy Jones making Jonathan Taylor Thomas look like a brilliant actor."

"Jonathan Taylor Thomas?" said Rory.

"The Disney version of this," said Tristan.

"Right," said Rory, "see but the thing is there are parents here, and this is a small town where everyone knows everyone and the parents of the kids are here and they're going to hear the snarky comments that you're saying and then we're going to get kicked out which means that I won't be able to write the article that Perry assigned me and then I am going to lose my job."

"Well, I've got something you can put in that article of yours," said Tristan, "you can put 'Children shouldn't act.' That's about it. Just put that in your article a million times with a few similes and apostrophes and you'll have your article." Rory laughed at Tristan.

"You certainly have gotten snarkier since our days at Chilton," she said.

"I always was snarky, you just never got a chance to know me that well so you never got to witness my snarkiness," said Tristan.

"Well," said Rory, "I'm sorry that I missed that. That would have been entertaining to see."

"Yes well," said Tristan.

Up on stage, Tom and Huck were talking about something. They were speaking so low though that no one could hear them. "This is why," said Tristan, "children shouldn't be on the stage."

Rory laughed.

"Tristan!" she exclaimed.

One of the Mother's of the children turned around and glared at them. "Excuse me," she said, "can you two please be quiet? My kid is up there and I would like to be able to listen to them."

"Wow," said Tristan, "you must have super hearing if you can hear that."

"_Tristan_," hissed Rory.

"You know what," said the Mom, "I think you should leave."

"Good idea," said Tristan, and he smiled and pulled Rory by her hand out of her seat and the two of them exited the school's auditorium, laughing.

"I could kill you," said Rory.

"Oh come on," he said, "just tell Perry I got you kicked out, okay? Besides, how much longer were you planning on staying?"

"Not much longer," Rory admitted. The play had been painful to watch, even for a children's performance.

"See," said Tristan, "I just made your stay shorter. You can thank me now."

Rory laughed.

"Okay, okay," she said, "thank you."

"You're welcome," said Tristan.

Tristan's cell phone rang just then and he answered it. "Hello?" he said into the phone.

"Hey there Tristan," said Carter's voice into the phone, "where are you two?"

"Hey Carter," said Tristan, "Rory got a job today. She's writing for The Beaufort Gazette. She had to write an article on the elementary school play." Carter let out a laugh.

"That had to be painful," said Carter.

"It was," said Tristan, "we actually ended up getting kicked out of there."

"Tristan," said Carter in a warning tone. "You didn't do anything too awful, did you?"

"Of course not," said Tristan. "What do you want though, Carter? Do you need Rory to get something for you?"

"No, no," said Carter, "but I got a couple of steaks today. I wanted to know if you and Rory wanted to come back over to my house and have dinner."

"Hang on," said Tristan, "let me ask her."

Tristan took the phone away from his ear for a moment. "Hey," said Tristan, "Carter's on the phone. He wants to know if you would like to have some steaks with him."

"You know," said Rory, "that actually sounds good."

"Great," said Tristan, "I'll tell him."

Tristan put the phone back to his ear again. "Yeah Carter," he said, "That sounds great. We'll be there in a little while, okay?"

"Sounds good," said Carter, "see you then. Bye Tristan."

"Bye Carter," said Tristan. Tristan hung up his phone and put it back in his pocket. "So," he said, "we're having dinner with Carter."

"Sounds good," said Rory, "let's go then."

"Alright," said Tristan.

The two of them got into Rory's car and they headed back to Landon's house. When they got inside though, Landon was nowhere to be found. "Carter?" called out Tristan. "Where are you?"

"Outside," called Carter's voice, "I'm out on the deck."

Tristan and Rory exchanged looks and Rory just shrugged. "Come on," said Tristan, "let's go."

The two of them headed out to the porch. Rory hadn't been out there yet. The porch had some nice patio furniture and a barbecue, which was where Carter was standing by, cooking the three steaks that he had gotten. "Hi Carter," Rory greeted him.

Carter turned around. "Hello you two," he said, "how was your day?"

"Interesting," said Rory, "although I now am going to have to make up something for my article since Tristan got us kicked out of the play."

Tristan laughed. "You were going to have to make up something for your article whether or not I got us kicked out of there," said Tristan, "there was nothing good about that play."

"Yes," said Rory, "but they have an excuse. They're kids."

"Still," said Tristan, "it was painful."

"Just say that it was well done for a children's production," said Carter, "and that people who see it have to understand that they're children."

"You know what Carter," said Rory, "that is not such a bad idea. I think I will put that in my article. Thank you."

"You know," said Carter, "I think we need some music. Tristan, you know where I keep everything. Would you mind going to get something for us to listen to?"

"Sure thing," said Tristan, "any preference?"

"Not really," said Carter, "you know what I like."

"Alright," said Tristan. He headed back into the house to go and grab them some music to listen to. Carter kept his music on a shelf right next to his television. Tristan rummaged through his C.D's. He found some Ella Fitzgerald and took the C.D. out and then walked over to the stereo that Carter had and he put the C.D. into the C.D. player and turned it up loud enough for them to hear the music outside. He opened up the sliding glass door that led out to the porch and walked out, taking a seat next to Rory who was now sitting on one of the patio chairs.

"Good choice there, Tristan," said Carter, "you know me too well."

"I'm glad you like it," said Tristan.

"Hey Carter," said Rory, "Do you want me to make a salad or something that goes with this? I feel like I should be doing something."

"Don't worry about it Rory," said Carter, "I'm doing this for you guys. You two just sit there and wait while I cook, alright? You two are my guests tonight."

"Okay," said Rory, "if you're certain."

"Positive," said Carter. Carter looked at the two of them for a moment. "You know," said Carter, "you two should dance?"

"What?" said Tristan, sounding surprised.

"You two should dance," said Carter, "come on, you've got to do something while I'm cooking instead of just sitting there."

"Oh," said Rory, turning red suddenly, "you know, I'm not really that great at dancing. Actually I'm horrible at it."

"Oh come on Mary," said Tristan, "dancing actually sounds like a good idea. Besides, if you have a good partner to dance with, it's easy."

"You know," said Rory, "I think I have heard that somewhere before."

"Well," said Tristan, "come on and give me a chance."

Rory let out a sigh. She didn't really want to dance, but it was clear that Tristan did. "Okay," she said, "okay that sounds good. But I warn you in advance, I will probably trip over your feet." Tristan just smiled at her.

"Don't worry," said Tristan, "I won't let you."

"Okay," said Rory.

Tristan grabbed her by the hand and to an area of the porch where there was enough room for the two of them to dance. At first there was a fast song playing, but then it changed into a slow song and Rory let out a laugh as Tristan smiled and pulled her close to her.

"You know how to waltz?" Tristan asked.

"A little," said Rory.

"Alright then," said Tristan, "just follow my lead."

The two of them attempted to waltz together, although Rory wasn't really very good at it. She ended up stepping on Tristan's toes at least one or two times. "Oh," said Rory after the second time, "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to."

Tristan laughed. "It's okay," said Tristan, "I don't mind. I didn't even feel it."

"Are you sure?" she said. "I don't know how you couldn't have."

"Well you know," said Tristan, "the first time you stepped on it, it kind of made my foot numb." There was a smile on his face, and Rory scowled at him.

"That," she said, "is not funny."

"You have to admit," said Tristan, "it was a little funny."

"Not really," said Rory.

Carter, who had been watching the two for a moment, laughed at them. "Really you two," said Carter, "you're both acting like children."

Tristan smiled. "Well," he said, "Rory did start it. After all, she was the one that stepped on my foot."

"I did not start it," said Rory, "you are the one who wanted to dance with me. I warned you that I would probably end up stepping on your feet."

Tristan laughed. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding," he said, "come on, maybe we should sit down before this turns ugly."

"You know," said Rory, "that sounds good."

"Good," said Tristan.

Tristan and Rory sat down by the table. "You picked the perfect time to sit down," said Carter, "the steaks are ready." The steaks were in fact ready and Carter took the steaks and put them on a plate and put it on the table.

"I'll be back in a second," he said, "I've got to get the rest of the meal from inside."

"Are you sure-"Rory started but Carter gave her a look that told her not to finish that sentence. Rory let out a sigh. "Well," she said, "I suppose that's my answer."

"Don't mind Carter," said Tristan, "he just likes doing things himself."

"I've noticed," said Rory, "but aren't I supposed to be helping him in exchange for board and stuff?"

"Yeah, yeah you are," said Tristan, "but trust me, Carter will have you help him when he wants you to help him. Other than that, just let him do things his way, okay?"

"Okay," said Rory, "if you're certain."

"I'm positive," said Tristan, "once you're around here long enough, you'll understand how Carter works."

"I hope so," said Rory.

It was then that something occurred to Tristan. He still didn't know why it was that Rory had come to Beaufort, North Carolina. "Hey Mary," he said, "You mind telling me something?"

"Well," said Rory, "that depends. What do you want to know?"

"I kind of want to know what it is that you're doing here," he said, "I mean, don't you normally spend time with your Mom? I know I haven't seen you in a long time, but last I checked you and your Mom were pretty inseparable."

Rory winced at the mention of her Mom. She had been trying not to think about her, especially since they hadn't been on that great of terms when she left, what with her decision to take time off from Yale and her decision to stay with her grandparents for a while, well…

"Um," said Rory, "you know I just needed a change of scenery."

"A change of scenery," said Tristan.

Ah, so that probably meant that whatever the reason she had left home, it most likely had to do with a guy. She hadn't mentioned The Bag Boy but Tristan wondered if they were still together and if maybe that was the reason that she 'needed a change of scenery'.

"Yes," said Rory, "a change of scenery."

"Uh huh," said Tristan, "a change of scenery wouldn't happen to have a name, would it?"

Rory rolled her eyes. "Tristan," she said, "my coming here has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with a guy. I am not broken hearted. In fact, I am perfectly fine."

There was something in the way that she was saying that that made Tristan doubtful. "What?" said Rory. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Like what?" asked Tristan.

"Like you think that there's something wrong with me," said Rory.

"Because," said Tristan, "I don't think that you just came here for a change of scenery."

"Well," said Rory, "think what you want."

"I will," said Tristan, "and I think that you're running away from something."

"I am not," said Rory, "I am not running away from anything."

"You are a very bad liar," said Tristan.

Rory sighed. "Look Tristan," she said, "I just don't really feel very much like talking about why I came here, okay?"

Tristan sighed. "Alright," he said, "but you know, if you ever want to talk about something, you can talk to me you know."

"I know," said Rory, "thank you."

"You're welcome," said Tristan.

"Trust me though," said Rory, "I'm not ready to talk about what happened with me. When I am though, that is if I ever am, you will probably be the first person that I tell."

"Probably?" said Tristan.

"Well," said Rory, "you never know. I might be all better before I have to talk to you."

"Okay, okay," said Tristan.

Carter came out just then carrying a salad, some bread, and a pitcher of some kind of juice. He put them all down on the table. "Just one more thing that I've got to get and then we'll be ready to eat," said Carter, although he paused and looked at Tristan and Rory, and noticed the irritated look on Rory's face and the annoyed look on Tristan's.

"Is everything okay out here?" asked Carter, wondering what exactly had happened while he had been inside the house.

"Yes," said Rory.

"Yep," said Tristan, "everything is fine."

"Really," said Carter, "because you two don't look fine."

"We're fine," said Rory, "honestly."

"Yep," said Tristan, "fine, fine, fine."

"Okay then," said Carter, "I'll be back in a second."

Carter headed on inside and grabbed the butter. While he went and got that, Tristan and Rory turned to each other.

"I'm sorry," said Rory, "I shouldn't have snapped."

"It's okay," said Tristan, "I shouldn't have asked about it."

"Okay," said Rory, "apology accepted."

"Same," said Tristan.

"Let's just forget that it ever happened," said Rory, "you know, for Carters sake so that we can have a nice dinner."

"Yeah, yeah," said Tristan, "okay-we'll be civil."

"Good," said Rory, smiling.

Carter came back out with the butter and put it back on the table. "There," he said, "now we're ready to eat."

Carter paused and looked at the two of them and noticed that once again their expressions were completely different then they had been when he had left. "Okay you two," said Carter, "are you absolutely certain that everything is okay?"

Rory smiled this time.

"Yes," said Rory, "I'm certain that everything is okay."

"Yes," said Tristan, "me too."

Carter highly doubted that everything was fine. Their expressions from earlier made it seem that there had been an argument between the two. Of course they were smiling but what had happened before?

"Uh huh," said Carter, "well, if you're sure…"

"Positive," said Tristan.

"Right then," said Carter, "let's start eating, shall we?"

They all took steaks from the one plate that they were on and then got the rest of the food. They ate, and the conversation flowed, all the while the music playing in the background. The whole evening, aside from that one point when Tristan had attempted to figure out what was going on with Rory, went smoothly.

Tristan was incredibly happy to have Rory there. The only reason he wanted to know what had brought her there was if there was going to be anyone who would come and convince her to go home. Because, truthfully, Tristan was hoping that Rory was going to stay long enough for him to get her to fall in love with him.

Because, at this moment, Tristan wasn't completely certain what they were, which was okay, considering the fact that he had only been around Rory for two days, and that wasn't very long at all. They had plenty of time to figure out what was going on between them, if in fact, there was anything that was actually going on.

At the end of the night, Tristan and Rory cleaned up for Carter. Carter had protested, however Rory had managed to convince him to let them do it. Carter himself was in his bedroom, watching the evening news which Rory and Tristan could hear because he had left the door opened.

"So," said Tristan, "I think I should show you around Beaufort so that you don't have to come running to me every time that you need to try and find something."

"You know," said Rory, "since I'm going to be staying here a while, that doesn't sound like such a bad idea. When should we do it?"

"Well," said Tristan, "I can't ditch work again-Duncan and Bowman will kill me. So, we should probably wait until the weekend."

"Sounds good," said Rory, "we'll make a date of it-that is-not a date, date. Just you know a _plan." _

Tristan arched his eyebrow at Rory. "A plan?" said Tristan.

"Yes," said Rory, "a plan."

"Not a date?" said Tristan.

"No," said Rory, "not a date."

"Why not a date?" said Tristan.

"Just um," said Rory, "because."

"Because?"

"Uh huh," said Tristan, "we've got a plan then."

"Yep," said Rory, "a plan."

_A/N: There's Chapter Seven. I hope you guys like it. _


End file.
